Medical inflation in India stands at 12%-15% as against the global av

Always known to be a pricesensitive market, Indians are acutely aware of the rising cost of healthcare. As per the IRDA Annual Report 2014-2015, medical inflation in India stands at 12%-15% as against the global average of 6%-7%. More and more Indians are, therefore, opting for health insurance policies to hedge themselves against the risk of high out-ofpocket expenses particularly for critical illnesses. Retail health insurance policies are in one of the fastest segments of the industry today. As per the IRDA report, the contribution of individual health insurance premium to the total health insurance premium collected has increased from 35% in 2010-11 to 44% in 2014-15.

TPAs are an integral part of this rapidly evolving healthcare ecosystem-they are the bridge between insurance companies, hospitals and their customers, facilitating seamless access to cashless health insurance benefits. Going by the observable trends in the Indian healthcare industry, the role of TPAs is only going to widen in the years to come. TPAs play the unique role of an aggregator in the industry; they empanel hospitals into their network to enable cashless hospitalisation for their members. TPAs bring insurance companies, hospitals, ambulatory healthcare service providers, pharmacies, corporates, and individuals together, and as the single point of contact for all of them, they manage a wide web of interactions seamlessly.